Navy agrees to fund toxic water study at NC base

[David]

AP


WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Navy has agreed after months of fighting to fund a study into the health effects of past water pollution at Camp Lejeune on Marines.

The Department of the Navy said in a letter Thursday to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry that it will pay more than $1.5 million for the work. The study will look at whether there are higher mortality rates for Marines who served at the base during the years the water was contaminated.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Friday.

North Carolina Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan had urged the Navy to fund the study. The two lawmakers were behind legislation passed by the Senate in September preventing the military from dismissing claims related to water contamination before studies are completed.

"I am pleased the Navy has listened and is taking this crucial step. The findings will help bring answers to our Lejeune families who deserve closure on this issue," said Hagan, who wrote the legislation.

Burr has blocked two Navy Department presidential appointees over the funding battle. David Ward, a Burr spokesman, said the senator is still focused on getting the Navy to fund all the studies.

The federal agency still needs funding for a health survey, which asks former residents of Camp Lejeune to report any illnesses. After months of wrangling, the Navy agreed in November to pay $92,000 for the reanalysis of a study looking at pregnancy issue like mean birth weight and preterm birth.

The Navy also agreed to pay almost $2 million for the completion of a water modeling project to determine how underground water flowed at the base and how toxins would have been introduced and spread.

Requests for comment from the Marine Corps were not returned.

The Navy's letter to the toxic substances agency came a day after The Associated Press reported on new documents that indicate massive fuel leaks at Camp Lejeune and high concentrations of benzene, a carcinogen, found in a water well there in 1984.

Health officials believe as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to tainted water at the base before the wells closed two decades ago. Critics say little information on benzene contamination had been publicly known until recently.